Under ice beaver

[mark-edmonton]

Found a few active huts on my line finally! Found the run ( thin ice ) but the hut entrance I think! But when I put a stick down to feel the bottom I could not find a channel? Was only about 30 inches deep under the ice? The feed bed is about 20 yds away!

Any suggestions would be appreciated!

Thanks
Mark

[Tfng]

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[nube]

Bait a coni and hang it under the ice about a foot betwwen house and feet pile. They will probably be running low on a food source soon enough and I bet you can nail them. I have never had luck finding a channel either during the winter Mark and found it easier to wait till spring to get them or in the fall. Good luck and take a few pics

[tomcat]

Put a baited snare pole down out a way in front of the lodge between it and the feed pile. Tie your snares (10" max loop) 18 inches below the ice to avoid caught beaver floating up and freezing into the ice.

[Tfng]

I'm shopping for a chisel. Anybody have experience with the "blue lightning" model?

[Torkdiesel]

How wide is the thin spot in the ice you found ? In Alberta I find the channels are not as pronounced as othe places that have more sand or gravel on the bottom. I have fenced them in with decent success in the past if the run was more the a foot or so wide. Nice dry logs about 3-4 inches around stuck in the mud to form a V away from the house with a 330 at the base of the tapper. You can set a second V four feet further out with another 330 set there. I've doubled up a few times like this.

As mentioned the baited set between the house and feed pile works great also, never have been a big fan of snare poles but lots of people have great success with them.

[Torkdiesel]

Sorry about the crude picture but you get the point. When you pound the dry logs through the thin ice the should go through with very little effort. If the ice is too thick you are likely far enough out it the run to be worried about.

[mark-edmonton]

I chipped thin ice over 2 ft across by the hut also same about 15 ft from hut on way to feed pile

[mark-edmonton]

Thanks tork heading out tomorrow will set it up like that and giver a try!

[nube]

That set of tomcats will work well if you can't find the runs and isn't hard to build

[Torkdiesel]

Originally Posted by mark-edmonton

Thanks tork heading out tomorrow will set it up like that and giver a try!

No worries sir. A couple baited 330's hanging on the house side of the bait pile should pick up another if they get run shy and use another entrance after the first one gets caught.

And be careful around those houses and especially the feed pile. Swimming in Feb is not fun at all

[braggadoe]

try a "hooked" stick to poke under the ice and find the entrance. if the ice is thin, your very close.

the old stand by, Aframe coni set with/without bait is a good one.block the sides or use another trap.





other snare sets/baited conis around the feed pile. aswell.

[bill9044]

I do a set just Like brag with stick as bait but I also tie plastic green leaves to the stick. The green drives them nuts. Steal the green leaves from the old lady's plants. The dollar store usually has some plastic green leaf a whole bunch for a dollar. I know i know beaver pelts aren't worth a dollar. Well mine weren't.

[mark-edmonton]

Went back and explored the beaver pond a little better! The thin ice I chipped the other day to find the run is now frozen over! Forgot to bring my chainsaw! But I did find another hut to trap and placed a hanging baited 330 on the outside of feed pile! Also had another look for rat huts! Could not find a single one, even though there are about 15 breathing push-ups on the ice! Headed back out tomorrow.

[Tfng]

How much ice was there out by the feed bed? You just used a chisel to make the hole? I'm looking forward to next days off to get going on beaver.

The muskrats in my area mostly have bank dens.

[mark-edmonton]

The new hut I found there was thin ice about 18" wide and went out from hit about 8-10 ft! I just used the ice chisel to bust through

[KegRiver]

When I have no clearly defined run but a wide thin ice area I usually set a double snare setup.

Guide pole, snare pole, bait pole, snare pole, guide pole setup.
I set that parallel to the side of the hut that is closest to the set.

Using a exploration stick can find the den entrance as brag says.
Many beaver ponds have dead willows around about and many of those will be bent in a huge bow shape. That is what I use. I choose one about two inches in diameter and around ten feet long. With that I can probe under the ice to find the den entrance.

If I can find the entrance I'll make my set dead center of it about three feet out, or as close as possible while far enough to avoid a catch getting hold of a stick imbedded in the den. They are incredibly strong animals and if they can get a purchase on anything they can pull loose.

Plus they can become intangled and that can be a nightmare to deal with.